CITY TO REGISTRARS: NOT A PENNY MORE

It seems that Hartford's Finance Director Julio Molleda has finally figured out why he is being paid his six figure salary. He didn't do it with the p-cards, he didn't do it with the travel policies, but now apparently he is stepping up to take on the Registrars of Voters Office.

 In Molleda's defense, maybe he finally took the time to actually read the Charter of the City of Hartford to understand what his job  requires.

The Registrar of Voters Office has been a problem when it has come to living within their budget. As elected officials the Democratic Registrar doesn't seem to have understood that she really is a Department Head and responsible for maintaining and living within her allotted budget. I single out the Democratic because the long term Republican recently retired so his lifetime paid medical and his pension are secure. The Working Families registrar is very rarely, if ever , allowed in on spending decisions and has been very vocal about this in the past.

Molleda's letter claims that no further expenditures will be allowed to the Registrar's until the new fiscal year begins July 1st. Unless the Registrar's and their staff are going to assume volunteer roles, this would mean that the Office will need to shut down until July 1.

Molleda's letter to Vazquez is below.

This might just be the wake up call for Vazquez to be forced to realize she needs to actually be a manager. In the meantime, the unelected staff in the Office will be forced to live without their regular paychecks until July 1st.

More to come on this I am sure.   Only in Hartford

Budget+Letter +Registrar+Office

WHEN IS A RESIGNATION NOT A RESIGNATION

That is the question being asked by many people that have been calling me. Apparently the answer is when the resignation is that of Mayor Segarra's Chief of Staff Jared Kupiec.

Kupiec announced his resignation almost two weeks ago after a series of missteps and embarrassments causing much stress for Segarra and seriously drawing Segarra's leadership into question. Even though Kupiec announced he was leaving, there has been no "departure date" set. Leaving the date open has many asking if he will be gone next week, maybe six months from now or longer.

More and more it is starting to look like an attempt by Segarra and his Public relations image crew as an attempt to deflect criticism and draw attention away from "Mayor Caviar" by announcing the problem child was heading out, until that happens I'm not buying it.

You can't really blame Kupiec though. For someone that has never really had a long term job during his adult life (adult being a descriptive term only in this case) giving up a six figure gig might be a tough move. With his track record and in the age of Google, where will he go.

In the meantime we are still gassing up his City SUV for his Happy Hour runs.

Law school was the explanation concocted again by the image crew, but normally that requires planning. taking the  LSAT's, applying to law schools, and of course the getting accepted part. None of those things happen overnight. But you have to admit it sounds a lot better than saying he was forced out.

A request for clarification of Kupiec's departure date from the Mayor's Office has not been received.